[LINK] Mickey's Law

[Jan Whitaker]

A late 1 April funny. But given our various threads about copyright, 
RIAA, 'saving the children' and ridiculous laws, I thought linkers 
might get a giggle from it. And besides, it's Friday.
Jan

>* Congress Passes "Mickey's Law"
>
>It was the story that stirred a nation: one mouse,
>kidnapped from his corporate family and ruthlessly
>exploited by infringers, pirates, and decorative birthday
>cake designers.
>
>But after an unprecedented campaign by concerned
>rightsholders across the nation, Mickey's experience has a
>happy ending of sorts: "Mickey's Law," a new bill that will
>make children's media safe from our most despicable
>elements in society.
>
>The law will protect innocent cartoon characters by
>creating a national registry of "copyright offenders" to be
>run jointly by the RIAA and MPAA. Anyone accused of
>repeatedly downloading copyrighted files without permission
>will be required to register themselves immediately and
>notify the registry within 2 weeks each time they move IP
>addresses. The law also bars them from residing in any
>domicile located within 1000 feet of an open wifi
>connection.
>
>Mickey's Law was passed with bi-partisan support. Harry
>Reid, Senate leader, introduced the bill with a moving
>description of its intent: "We're not just doing this for
>Mickey. We're doing it for the children. No, wait, we're
>doing it *to* the children, as a result of enforcing the
>children's contractually limited rights to their purchased
>media."
>
>For this complete post:
><http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01>http://www.eff.org/pages/04/01

[it's no longer on the website, sadly]



Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com

Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or 
sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
~Madeline L'Engle, writer

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